Blaine Amos scores 17 to lifts Middletown boys

MIDDLETOWN - A mix of stringent defense by Middletown and a badly off-target night for Fort Bragg led to a 54-31 romp for the resurgent Mustangs on Friday night in North Central League I varsity boys' basketball action.

Shaking off the damaging effects of a critical loss to NCL I leader Willits (10-0) three nights earlier, the Mustangs had it all their way, leading from wire to wire while improving their league record to 7-3 and their overall mark to 16-6.

"They got over it before I did," said Middletown coach G.J. Rockwell of the Willits loss. "There's plenty of incentive and there's four games left. They finish strong, they can go 20-6."

There is also the incentive of making the North Coast Section playoffs as an at-large team. "But we can't worry about the playoffs now," Rockwell cautioned. "We got four good teams ahead of us and we're not even in the top 16 (in the section's Division IV rankings), somebody just told me. We have to fight this out and make sure we do everything we can."

The Mustangs certainly did everything they could to Fort Bragg on Friday night. The Timberwolves (3-7 in league) were assessed a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. If there was a penalty for it, the Timberwolves might also have been whistled for unscoringlike basketball. Indeed, they may have set a new record for futility in a second half during which they were 0-for-the-third-quarter and had only one field goal for the entire two periods.

Fort Bragg was a mind-boggling 1-for-20 from the floor for the second half. One can only imagine what the bus ride back to the Timberwolves' distant home must have been like.

The entire final quarter was played by underclassmen on both sides, giving the game more of an aura of a physical education class scrimmage.

Fort Bragg's miseries did not obfuscate Blaine Amos' performance for Middletown - it would be fair to say, with one hand tied behind him, given that he was playing with a sprained hand. Amos, who had 17 points - 11 in the first quarter - and nine rebounds in three quarters was nothing short of heroic. Ben Pike and Nate Snodgrass each chipped in eight points for Middletown, while Joseph Brug led Fort Bragg with 11.

"I wasn't going to play him tonight," Rockwell confided when Amos' performance was mentioned. "He got hurt against Willits when (Ian) Montanez, their big guy, rolled up on his hand. It looked like a catcher's mitt the next day. He's been putting into a bucket of ice.

"He said, 'We got four games left. There s no reason why I'm going to sit down.' He played good. I think everybody played good. I'm glad that they bounced back," Rockwell added.

"You mean they showed character?" a reporter asked

"Yes character, that's a good word. I like that word," Rockwell replied.